The Puppet Happening :: Mission
The Puppet Happening, Pittsburgh's new puppet festival and presenting organization, aims to strengthen the Pittsburgh puppeteer community by providing a support structure for puppetry performance. By promoting experimentation through collaborations with visual and performing artists of other disciplines, we aim to grow the audience for puppetry in the Pittsburgh region. We aim to establish a city-wide, year-round presence that challenges the definition of puppetry performance, promotes diversity, explores a dynamic scope of topics, and links Pittsburgh with the national puppetry scene.
Funding for Puppet Happening is provided by the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation.
Puppet Happening is a member of Puppeteers of America and the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council.
The Puppet Happening :: Events
Saturday, March 3, 6pm - 11pm :: Luck of the Puppet
Puppet Happening takes on Vegas in a night of performance & spectacle!
Future Tenant Art Space. 819 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. (412) 325-7037
$15 at door. $10 in advance click here to buy tickets
See puppets in action! Make a puppet! Get married!
Puppet Happening enters its second year with a festival night of performance and spectacle co-presented by the Future Tenant Gallery Trespass Series. This event features a dynamic new format, a carnival atmosphere where puppet shows happen spontaneously in a mix of pageantry, live music and hands-on activities.
Shows and spectacle will range from the wild and racy, to the edgy and critical. Tom Sarver and Mike Cuccaro are the hosts. The Society for the Advancement of Miniature Curiosa unveils Puppet Photo Booth. Cirque da so lame makes its Pittsburgh debut. Enjoy live music by the Funkys. Check out a “Puppet Peep Show,” or "Shadow Puppet Infomercial." Make your "Puppet Mate" or get married by a puppet! Check out Dave English and Paul O'Brien's "Big N' Scratchy," a critical look at scratch-off lottery tickets. This is an 18 and over event.
The Puppet Happening :: Past Events
Sunday, February 12, 1pm - 4:30pm :: Puppet Festival! A free one-day puppetry workshop
Course #[MM021212] Registration deadline: February 3
Society for Contemporary Craft. 2100 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. 412.261.7003, x25
Puppetry is an art form accessible to artists of all skill levels. Instructor Tom Sarver will cover techniques for planning, constructing and performing a portable puppet theater show. Visual and performing artists of all disciplines and curious others are invited to explore a dynamic scope of topics through puppet collaborations in this fun and free workshop. Tuition: Free, registration required. Materials Fee: $20. Call the number above, visit in person, or email the Society for Contemporary Craft to register.
2011 Events
Friday, December 2nd - Saturday, December 3rd :: Lascaux to Garfield
Gallery Reception: Friday, December 2nd, 6 PM – 10 PM
Puppet Happening Cabaret: Friday, December 2nd, 11 PM – Midnight
Daytime Reception: Saturday, December 3rd, Noon – 5 PM
Irma Freeman Center for Imagination. 5006 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. 412-924-0634
Lascaux to Garfield features a small works art salon including the works of fifty local artists exploring a broad range of mediums and techniques. Works will be available for sale "off the wall" at the Gallery Reception and at the Saturday, December 3rd Daytime Reception. A portion of proceeds of art sales will benefit a Puppet Happening festival in 2012.
Exhibiting artists include: Sheila Ali, Alberto Almarza, Ashley Pixelle Andrews, Tommy Bones, Dean Cercone, Victoria Cessna, Matthew Conboy, Thommy Conroy, Murphi Cook, LEX Covato, Mike Cuccaro, George Davis, Tirzah DeCaria, The Dirty Poet, Sam Ditch, Zach Dorn, Kirsten Ervin, Gabe Felice, Irma Freeman, Claudia Giannini, Karen Hartman, Doug Hill, Jennifer Howison, Renee Ickes, Carolyn Kelly, Jessica Langley, Chris Lisowski, Maria Mangano, Jean McClung, Anna Mikolay, David Luis Montano, John Morris, Lindsay O’Leary, Organza Orgazmica (Scott Andrew, Elin Lennox and Michael McParlane collaboration), Larry Rippel, MJ Sadeghi, Nicole Sarver, Tom Sarver, Jessica Scott, Kate Sherman, Moshe Sherman, Kara Skylling, Steve Smith, Oliver Southgate, Jim Storch, Laurie Trok, Robert Zehmisch & Bob Ziller.
Friday Night Puppet Happening Cabaret Performers:
- Murphi Cook, Timothy Sherman and Ippei Mori (recent performers in the Warhol Museum's Pop Cabaret, I Put A Spell On You) present a surprise explosion of fickle fun.
- Mike Cuccaro: With a cardboard box and some old socks, Mike Cuccaro performs three short puppet sketches about poorly-considered business decisions, awkward first dates, and pizza-loving kitties.
- Zach Dorn: Utilizing archaic overhead projectors in unexpected performance spaces, Zach Dorn melds verse and shadow, carrying audiences on epic adventures inspired by conversations with strangers, shopping excursions and embarrassing moments.
- Joann Kielar: Joann Kielar performs The Girl with a Pony-tail, a lightly twisted fairy tale told by a demented big brother to an innocent little sister and recreated for the audience with shadow puppets and paper figures.
- Flora Shepherd: Flora Shepherd presents Little Red and the Wolf: Rematch. The legendary hooded heroine battles her infamous canine stalker in the woods to Grandma's house. Who will win? A hand puppet re-enactment of this lost story holds the answer.
Friday, November 18 :: Tonight, A Clown Will Travel Time!
Part of Light Up Night.
929 Liberty Avenue, Pittsbugh, PA 15222
Zach Dorn and Murphi Cook will perform a ten minute puppet spectacular on rotation starting at 7pm. Come see a time travelling clown! There will be tea and cookies and a clown. Photo from Lascaux to Garfield peformance, courtesy of Larry Rippel.
Saturday, September 24, 1pm :: Vegetable Island Rescue
Part of Your Place at the Banquet. Free!
Market Square: Downtown, Pittsburgh, PA
What happens when the children of the world send away their healthy food? The bad snacks take over! Can Captain Carrot, Black-Eyed Pete, and Anna Banana return in time to save the children from the clutches of evil? Find out as Tom Sarver and Mike Cuccaro, along with Unfinished Symphonies, present this puppet show as part of Your Place at the Banquet, a group exhibition at Future Tenant Gallery focusing on issues of food safety and sustainability. Free and open to the public, kid-friendly. There will be two performances, one at 1pm and another at 2pm, total run time 20 minutes.
Saturday, August 13, 1pm :: Vegetable Island Rescue
Part of the New Hazlett Theater Community Celebration. Free!
New Hazlett Theater: 6 Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, 412-320-4610
What happens to good children Fit Felix, Kind Kinesha, and Laser Lonnie when they send their healthy food away? They fall under the power of Pop Dragon, Monsterburger, and the evil Dr. Donut and get out of shape, hyperactive, and lazy! Can Captain Carrot, Black-Eyed Pete, and Anna Banana return in time to save them from the evil snacks? Probably not, but you'll have to watch to find out! Kyle Costello and Mike Cuccaro perform with the puppet creations of Tom Sarver as part of a free community day celebration at the New Hazlett Theater with fun, food and activities both inside and outside from 10 am to 8 pm. Puppet show at 1pm! Click here for more event info!
Thursday, July 21, 7pm :: The Mysterious Rabbit Puppet Army presents: What are prisons for?
Artists Image Resource: 518 Foreland St., Pittsburgh PA 15212, (412) 321-8664
The Mysterious Rabbit Puppet Army rolls into town as part of its whirlwind, month-long excursion across the continental United States to raise awareness about the prison system. The tour stop will include a few different shows. What are prisons for?, the feature show uses shadow puppets to outline the history of the Prison Industrial Complex, from chattel slavery in the south to where it is today. The other show is a modernized Hansel and Gretel. All of the shows are child friendly. The tour is being co-sponsored by the Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective, a part of the books to prisoners network. Donations will be accepted at the show.
Sunday, June 19, 1:15pm and 4pm :: Vegetable Island Rescue
Part of the Mattress Factory Community Garden Party. Free!
Mattress Factory: 500 Sampsonia Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, (412) 231-3169
What happens when the children of the world send away their healthy food? The bad snacks take over! Can Captain Carrot, Black-Eyed Pete, and Anna Banana return in time to save the children from the clutches of evil? Find out as Tom Sarver and Mike Cuccaro present this new puppet show as part of hosting a full afternoon of free entertainment, activities, and fun for the whole family at the Mattress Factory. The Community Garden Party is open from noon to 5pm. Come on down!
Saturday, April 23, 7pm :: Bread & Puppet Theater
Internationally-recognized puppetry activists present The Decapitalization Cabaret
The Brew House Space 101 Gallery, 2100 Mary St., Pgh PA 15203, (412) 381-7767
This latest edition of Bread & Puppet Theater's cabaret series features the Kaspars' interpretation of justice, an operatic argument about farms vs. jails, instructions on how to nab that alien, the can cans (and can't can'ts) of universal health care, and much more. The Decapitalization Orchestra will provide soothing sounds for winter weary nerves.
Several organizations including the Brew House, ArtUp, Puppet Happening, Schmutz Co. and "Joy Toujours & The Toys Du Jours" partnered to make this show possible. The event will be open seating and "pay what you wish." The troupe will pass a hat at the end of the cabaret.
As with all Bread & Puppet shows, a "Cheap Art" sale will follow the performance. This is a rare chance to pick up memorabilia, puppet how-to booklets and hand-pulled prints.
Founded in 1963 by Peter Schumann, Bread & Puppet Theater is an internationally renowned company that champions a visually rich, street-theater brand of performance art filled with music, dance and slapstick. Its shows are political and spectacular, with huge puppets made of paper maché and cardboard.
Thursday, March 17 and Saturday, March 19, 8pm-10pm :: Puppet Happening Open House Cabaret
Two nights of local puppetry for adult audiences. $10 suggested donation.
Glass Lofts: 3rd Floor Residential Space (A301), 5485 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Long-time puppetry performer and organizer Tom Sarver will perform Punchinello vs. the Schmoovaggios, a semi-traditional "Punch" hand-puppet show where the rascally and violence-prone Punchinello takes on his high-class neighbors in a fight to the death. Lewd and rude, Punchinello gains and loses body parts as he tangles with angry shih tzus, combative conductors, amorous ladies, and… unicorns?
New Orleans-native and lifelong puppeteer Flora Shepherd brings us In the Night, a one-woman puppet show. This dark, adult fairy tale features magic, hidden secrets, and a red accordion. A young girl is called forth to save one she loves from deep inside the forest. But first she must navigate menacing abstract shapes, unfamiliar sounds, and her own fears. Her journey is brought to life through a combination of string, table-top, hand, and rod puppetry techniques. Will she escape from the forest? or will its shadowy figures absorb her into their dark unknown?
Puppeteer Zach Dorn makes his Pittsburgh debut with Real Live Puppets! A collection of short puppet performances that employ the fashionable Victorian tradition of Toy Theater. Armed with paper dolls, a VCR, and a miniature stage, Dorn plans to entertain guests in attendance. Following the toy theater performance, Dorn will project moving, intricate paper cut-outs onto the wall of the loft space with overhead projectors from local Pittsburgh Elementary schools. Guests are encouraged to bring a pair of their finest field glasses in order to inspect the hand crafted quality of the moving objects in this theater of miniature.
Friday, March 4, 2011 6pm-9pm :: Puppet Happening Open Studio at the Unblurred Penn Ave Gallery Crawl
Glass Lofts: 2nd Floor Retail Space, 5485 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
As we prepare for our introductory Open House Cabaret, stop in to visit the space, see puppets being built, check out our art, and talk shop with local puppeteers Tom Sarver, Mike Cuccaro, Zach Dorn and friends. Find out what's going on with The Puppet Happening!
